


i won't let you be the one that got away

by blissfulbughead



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Takes place in season three, a talk between a mother and son, betty & jughead - Freeform, bughead - Freeform, jughead and gladys talk about his relationship, jughead thinks about his future with betty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27142096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blissfulbughead/pseuds/blissfulbughead
Summary: A conversation between a boy who's hopelessly in love and a mother who wishes she had been there to watch his relationship blossomorJughead and Gladys have a conversation about the future that Jughead envisions with Betty.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	i won't let you be the one that got away

**Author's Note:**

> This is a super short oneshot that I wrote in about fifteen minutes because I couldn't stop thinking about how this conversation would go ;) Enjoy!

If someone had told Jughead not even a week ago that he’d not only be on the run with Archie Andrews from Hiram Lodge, but he’d also find shelter in his mother’s rundown car shop; he would have thought that they’d need to take a trip down to Dr. Sanders’ office to get their head checked. But yet, here he was sitting beside the woman who had left him with his drunk of a father while taking his only sibling with her to Toldeo.  
The silence that had been consuming the pair for the past three minutes spoke volumes, neither of them really knowing what to say. How do you spark up a conversation with someone who seemed to not give a care in the world about you enough so that she left you behind when you were only ten with a man who was not fit to be a father? Luckily for Jughead, he wasn’t the one to break the awkward silence.  
“So, since you and Carrotop are only good pals, does that mean you’re seeing someone else?” Gladys questioned with a small glance towards her son who had his eyes downcast on the firepit at their feet.  
“Mmhm,” He hummed in response while repositioning so he was facing his mother.  
“Oh really? Well, who’s the lucky girl? Or guy, you never know,” She said.  
This caused a smile to form on Jughead’s face as the conversation shifted towards his favorite topic. “You remember Betty Cooper?”  
“Blonde-haired, ponytail, Miss. Perfect, Northside royalty, Betty Cooper?”  
“That’s the one,” He said with a small nod of his head.  
“Wow,” She drew out the word while Jughead’s beam just grew wider in response. “Damn, Jug. Never would I have guessed that you and Alice Cooper’s kid would be a thing. How long have you been together?”  
“About two and a half years now,” He answered. “We started dating towards the beginning of sophomore year when Jason Blossom was murdered.”  
“Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Well, I was never the hugest fan of the Blossom’s but it is unfortunate that he had to pass away so soon,” She said.  
“Mm, but get this,” Jughead started. “Clifford Blossom was the one who killed him.”  
Gladys’ mouth formed an ‘o’. “No way. How long did it take for the Sheriff to figure that one out?”  
“Well actually, Betty and I were the ones to figure that out,” He replied.  
“What?!” She exclaimed.  
“Yeah, I mean, I guess you could say that Archie, Kevin, and Veronica helped us too, but Betty and I were the ones doing all the sleuthing,” Jughead said. “So we had obviously been friends when we were in grade school, but we sort of rekindled our friendship once all of that started and… things just took off from there.”  
“I see,” Gladys said with a click of her tongue. “So do you love her?”  
Jughead scoffed at the absurdity of that even being a question. “Yeah. She’s the one I’m going to spend the rest of my life with,” He said, so sure of himself.  
“Aww, look at that,” She reached a hand out to pat his cheek. “My boy’s already planning his wedding.”  
“Oh, please,” He said while rolling his eyes and pushing her away. “We’re only seventeen so nowhere near ready for that.”  
“Mmhm. Just make sure you’re more ready than your dad and I were. Everyone thinks they’re going to marry their high school sweetheart, and some do, but…” She let out a sigh before continuing, “But most of the time they don’t work out. Being young and in love is something you only get to experience for a small amount of time so don’t waste that by focusing so much on your future with that person, okay?”  
He swiped his tongue across his teeth before he hesitantly replied, “It’s just… I don’t know. What Betty and I have is different. In most teenage relationships, they go on dates, make out all the time, you know, all the normal high school things, but I can’t even remember the last time she and I went out to dinner together. The things we’ve been through with each other, most people don’t ever experience in their lifetime. And the fact that we’ve gotten through all of that and only come out stronger because of it…” His eyes moved to look out in the distance. “I just can’t see myself with anyone else,” He whispered.  
Gladys reached out to grasp his shoulder so he’d meet her eyes again. “Then don’t ever let her go, Jug.”  
And if he hadn’t already known it before then, he certainly did now.  
He was never going to let Betty Cooper be the one that got away.


End file.
